The number of networked devices in local area networks, such as home networks, is on the rise, and so is the amount of content stored on them. Typically, consumers store and access several types of content (e.g., audio, video, image and other data files) in different formats using their home network devices. In addition to accessing such local content, home users also commonly access broadcast data streams via external networks such as live television/cable networks, the Internet, etc.
Media players, such as Windows Media Player, Real player, etc., extract related metadata information for music CDs (that are currently being played) from the Internet. Typically, such media players maintain a standard set of metadata types capable of being extracted and displayed, and rely on specific websites to obtain the required metadata.
However, the user cannot access other information related to the content (e.g., lyrics of a song, artist biography, etc., for a music CD). This is because such information is not among the standard metadata information available from specific Internet data sources that conventional media players are pre-configured to access. Further, the media player relies on specific Internet data sources (e.g., websites, remote data bases, etc.). If the data sources become inaccessible, the media player fails to obtain even the standard metadata information, even though the required information may be available from some other data source.
Further, since the amount of information available from the Internet is continually on the rise, a user can typically find information on the Internet that is related to content stored in his home network. The user can also find large quantities of related information in different formats (e.g., structured, semi-structured and unstructured) via multiple sources. As such, users are typically as interested in accessing information on the Internet as they are in accessing their own network content. However, conventional approaches do not enable seamless access to such related information. Conventionally, the user manually performs a search for the desired information using an Internet search engine or uses a web browser to directly access websites of interest. Thus, the user is forced to search for and analyze large quantities of information to identify/access the exact information he is looking for.
Desktop search applications such as Google Desktop Search and Copernic are extensions of Internet searches where users can search for content on their PCs. However, drawbacks of such search extensions include: (1) requiring users to form queries and to refine the queries in order to obtain desired results, (2) requiring computing resources that far exceed what consumer electronic devices provide for analyzing humongous search results, and (3) requiring input devices such as a keyboard to enter a significant amount of query text for searching. Therefore, there is a need for a method and system that enables simplified and seamless access to available content.